James



(No Model.)

J. G. HYDE.

SUSPENDBR BUCKLE. No. 346,851. PatentedAug; 3, 1886.

lg Enema. fl 3 N PEIERS, Photo-Lithographer, wzuhin mnv D. c.

UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFicE.

JAMES C. HYDE, OF \VEST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE VEST HAVEN BUCKLE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SUSPENDER BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 346,851, dated August 3, 1886.

Application filed June 1,-1886. Serial No. 203,747. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, JAMES C. HYDE, of West Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Buckles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figurel, a face View; Fig. 2, a back view; Fig. 3, an end view; Fig. 4, a top view; Fig. 5, the blank from which the front plateis formed; Fig. 6, the blank from which the back plateis formed; Fig. 7, atop View of one ofthe links detached; Fig. 8, a vertical section of the buckles open with the strap introduced; Fig. 9, a vertical section of the buckle closed,showing the strap clamped between the plates.

This invention relates to an improvement in buckles, and particularly to that class of buckles used in wearing-apparel, and known as "suspender buckles. In this class of buckles it is desirable to construct the buckle as flat as possible, and without projections, which are liable toinj ure the garments of the wearer, and the object of this invention is to construct such a buckle; and it consists in the construction as more fully hereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claims.

A represents the front plate, which is of any desired length and width, cut from sheet metal, and is provided with a hook, B, or an equivalent device to engage the suspenderend. The plate is also constructed with two or more tongues, a a, on its upper and lower edges.

C is the back plate, which is also cut from sheet metal, its size corresponding to the size of the front plate, and is constructed with two or more tongues, I) b, on its upper and lower edges like the front plate. The edges of the plate between the arms I) b are preferably cut to form teeth at e.

D E are the links around which the arms a a and b b are bent to connect the plates. The length of the links corresponds to the width of the strap, and the width of the link is some- 50 what greater than the thickness of the strap to be introduced. The sides of the links are parallel, and they are preferably made from wire.

In connecting the plates, the tongues on the same edge of the two plates are bent inward 5 around the opposite sides of the same link, and the tongues upon the opposite edges of the two plates are in a like manner bent inward around the corresponding sides of the other link, as seen in Fig. 8, and so as to form ahinge-like connection between the two plates, and so that the two sides of the links form a rib longitudinally across the inside of the respective plates, as seen in Fig. 8.

F represents the strap to which the buckle 6 5 is to be secured, and upon which the buckle will freely slide when the buckle is open, as in Fig. 8.

To secure the buckle to the strap, pass the strap through between the open plates to the 7c desired position, as shown in Fig. 8, hold the front plate, A, against the strap, and raise the back plate,C, thereby forcing the teeth (Z c in to the strap, and clamping the strap between the two plates, as shown in Fig. 9. The great- 7 5 er the upward strain upon the strap or the downward strain upon the front plate the more securely will the strap be clamped.

To adjust the buckle, raise the front plate to open it, and release the strap, and the buckle may be freely moved upon the strap.

By this construction I not only produce a buckle provided with a smooth face and back, but, in manufacturing, one size of front and back plates may be connected by various 8 lengths of links, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 4, thereby adapting the same plate to various sizes of buckle.

The back plate may be constructed without the teeth d e, as the clamping between the go sides, as seen in Fig. 9, would in many cases be sufficient to hold the strap.

I am aware that buckles have been constructed with two plates linked together, so as to clamp the strap between the plates, and I 9 5 do not, therefore, broadly claim such as my invention.

I have illustrated the teeth as formed upon both edges of the plate C; but it will be understood that they may be arranged upon one or too both edges of either plate, as occasion may re '2. The combination of the front plate, A, :0 quire. back plate, 0, constructed with teeth upon one I claimor both edges, and the links D E, around the 1. In a buckle, the combination of the sides of which the edges of the plates are 5 front plate, A,the back plate, 0, and thelinks turned, substantially as described.

D E, around the sides of which the edges of JAMES C. HYDE. the plates are inwardly turned, and forming \Vitnesses: ribs upon the inside of the plate, substan- FRED O. EARLE,

tially as described. 1 LILLIAN D. KELsEY. 

